1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to processing data collected from a machine, and more particularly relates to automatically detecting/calculating cycles data for an engine and tracking cycles data for an engine and correlating the cycles data to parts within engine.
2. Related Art
Engines, such as those used on jet airplanes and in land based power generation applications, are subject to a great number of stresses from the constant cycling of the engine. Cycling generally refers to the starting and stopping of the engine, as well as any increases and decreases in power output. The cycling of an engine can result in thermal stresses that impact the expected lifetime of the parts in the engine.
Because engine failure can be extremely costly, if not catastrophic, tracking the cycles of an engine has become a critical task in the operation of such engines. Based on collected engine cycles data and the characteristics of the individual parts, remaining lifetime of each part can be estimated using known or estimated formulas. Most current methodologies of cycles tracking utilize processes where operators manually record cycles data for an engine. Unfortunately, such methodologies have numerous drawbacks, including: (1) they are prone to operator error; (2) they do not allow for the accurate tracking of partial cycles, e.g., a decrease in power, followed by an increase; and (3) they lack an automated process for correlating cycles tracking data to the individual parts of an engine to provide expended and remaining lifetime data of the parts.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system that can automatically track cycles data of an engine and correlate the cycles data to individual parts to provide lifetime data for the parts.